COUNTERPOINT: Cars shouldn’t hog the roads

First, there is nothing “fanatical” about cycling. I drive a car and I ride a bike. I do neither activity fanatically. Maybe Mr. Burns misunderstands the definition. More to the point, the fanatics among us might be the drivers themselves — those who consider roads their exclusive preserves, apparently regardless of the fact they’re paid for by all taxpayers, cyclists included.

Second, the “disruption” Mr. Burns speaks of is hardly that at all. Roads should be used for transport, not parking. Hospital parking is amply available in the large and frequently underused parking lot adjacent to the Victoria and Centennial buildings. Parking for Spring Garden Road shoppers and diners is equally amply available in the large and frequently underused lots in the Lord Nelson Hotel and at Park Lane.

Third, bike lanes in Halifax are not ill-conceived. Quite the opposite, they’ve been established through a thoughtful and consultative process, along central corridors where cyclists are known to ride and commute, and where there is ample room. South Park Street is too wide for just a single lane of motor vehicle traffic, but not wide enough for two such lanes. That makes it ideal for a bike lane. Thus — and to whatever extent Mr. Burns imagines that he is being “disrupted” — he should either slow down, drive more carefully or give himself greater time to get to wherever it is he is going. The same advice can be frequently given to all drivers, myself included.

As for Mr. Burns’ overarching thesis about Halifax as a “bike city,” the “build it and they will come” phenomenon has been alive and well in many communities for many decades. Those communities wanting to create something know intuitively that they must grow it out organically. That means time, space and opportunity. These are all things that would not be possible within the purview of selfish and exclusive roadway use, which Mr. Burns appears to espouse. In short, no locale could become a “bike city,” were it to eschew all notions of cycling infrastructure at the same time.

Finally, the “majority of citizens” for whom Mr. Burns purports to be speaking must be very silent indeed. Their attitudes are not publicly reflected, except by a few apparent malcontents.

Moreover, Mr. Burns’ selective statistic ignores the research by the Halifax Cycling Coalition, the opinions offered by the members of Halifax Cycle Chat and the research by Halifax Transportation that there are countless residents of our city who’d love to cycle more often than they do — if only they could only find safer roadway conditions in which to do it.

I applaud the Halifax transportation standing committee. Let’s build more bike lanes. Let’s move our city into the 21st century.